Kentucky improved to 2-0 on Saturday night with a 38-17 victory over visiting Eastern Michigan at Kroger Field, but it might have come at a severe price.

With less than two minutes remaining in the third quarter and Kentucky leading 24-10, quarterback Terry Wilson went down with a knee injury after a scramble. He was carted off the field, but no report on the severity of the injury was available at the final horn.

Sawyer Smith, a graduate transfer from Troy, replaced Wilson and led Kentucky to a pair of touchdowns. He completed 5 of 9 passes for 76 yards, with scoring passes of 54 yards to Ahmad Wagner and 2 yards to Lynn Bowden Jr. Wilson was 14 of 26 for 114 yards and had a 2-yard touchdown run before the injury

Kentucky amassed 461 yards in the win, 222 via the pass and 239 on the ground. Kavosiey Smoke and AJ Rose led the ground game with 92 and 82 yards, respectively. Each scored a touchdown as Kentucky raced out to a 17-0 lead in the first half. Rose scored on an 8-yard run eight minutes into the game, and Smoke sprinted 32 yards for another touchdown less than five minutes later.

A 40-yard field goal by Chance Poore rounded out the first-half scoring for Kentucky, with Eastern Michigan (1-1) getting on the board with a 24-yard field goal by Chad Ryland less than two minutes before halftime.

Eastern Michigan managed 386 yards of offense in the game, but only 49 on the ground.

Quarterback Mike Glass, who completed 20 of 22 passes -- three of them for touchdowns -- in the Eagles' season-opening win over Coastal Carolina, was 34 of 53 for 337 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions against the Wildcats.

The first two games -- home wins over Toledo and Eastern Michigan -- set the stage for Kentucky's Southeastern Conference opener next weekend against No. 11 Florida. The Wildcats ended a nation-worst 31-game losing streak to Florida last year with an upset in The Swamp in Gainesville, Fla.

The game next Saturday is in Lexington.

--Field Level Media